More than 700 youth die each year in Canada due to injury, and the leading cause of death and injuries in youth aged 15-19 is motor vehicle collisions. SmartRisk is working to put an end to that. SmartRisk is a non-profit organization that aims to prevent injuries with smart thinking. SmartRisk No Regrets is one of several different programs that the organization offers focused on preventing injury in Canadian youth. SmartRisk has partnered with researchers at the University of Guelph to conduct an online study on the relationship between parent and teen driving habits. Results from this study could inform parents about how to be better teachers when practicing driving with their teens, as well as how to model safer driving behaviour when they are driving with their teens in the car, ultimately hopefully contributing to a reduction in risky teen driving and the associated injuries and deaths in this age group.

If you are an Ontario high school student between the age of 16 and 20 and you received your G2 drivers licence in the past 16 months, then you are eligible to participate in this online survey study! As a thank you for completing the survey, you will receive a $5 Tim Horton's gift certificate. If you are interested in participating, please go to:

http://tinyurl.com/G2Survey

Good luck to all and especially to Sarah.

Good learning...Good giving...

Cheers - Mike

Proposal (2008)

Fund and promote a teen driver safety poster campaign, with the poster ideas and slogans coming from the teens themselves. The posters would be published by Driver Safety for use in schools and wherever appropriate.

Premise

Teens at 14 and 15 still listen and learn from those they respect.
Teens in grade 9 and 10 are just learning how to drive.
Teens can learn from others mistakes.
Teens can become part of the solution.

Why

Too many accidents causing injury and death involving teen drivers.

How

Get the teens involved – thinking – responding – and because the message is coming from the teens themselves they will be more inclined to listen, understand and use the message.

Background

The death of teens driving near Sylvan Lake in 2008 – and many teen driver accidents since then - - - could there have been a much better outcome – no accident at all – with more teen driver safety education through listening and understanding driver safety messages coming from their peers?

Possible slogan for this example:

Don’t Distract Me…
…I have your life in my hands

Responsibility

This would help the teen drivers understand what an awesome responsibility they have when driving.
This would help the teen passengers understand what an awesome responsibility the driver has.

Audience: Teen drivers – and passengers

Result: More exposure for teens, from teens - saving teens.

Stay Safe!

Cheers - Mike

A witness I talked with recently this month related this story. He was crossing 106 Ave in Edmonton at a cross-walk near St Gabriel School when he was almost hit by a woman driver with a child in the vehicle, who came from a side street after doing a rolling stop. She was using a cell phone at the time. A second rolling stop vehicle followed her out of the side street to get ahead of the vehicles coming down the street. One of the vehicles coming down the street stopped and advised the witness that he saw it all and he would stay as a witness for a police report. My witness doesn't have a cell phone so the driver who stopped lent him his. He called Edmonton Police on the non-emergency line and related his story. The officer who answered the phone didn't want to take the report. The driver who stopped then talked with the police and got an argument as to what was expected. They were advised that a police car would not be sent and they could file a complaint at a community police station. The complaint was about cell phone use while driving. My witness had the date and time, description of vehicle, licence plate and the fact that the woman pulled into the St Gabriel parking lot to drop her child off for school. So after that experience, although my witness sees many drivers going by his bus stop each morning using a cell phone, he knows there is nothing he can do about it. Since he cannot report it, the result is no action. Not even a warning letter to the Registered Owner.

So, distracted driving legislation is only as good as the enforcement agency that is supposed to enforce it. And they do enforce it quite well from a patrol car perspective. However there are only so many patrol cars that are available and not responding to a call during rush hour, so they don't see it all. Not by a long shot.

However most distracted driving complaints come from the general public, and a way is needed to deal with them in a timely and convenient manner.

So a question is: why?
Well it was the morning rush hour and probably many calls coming in and not enough staff to deal with the morning and afternoon commute calls. I believe the newly elected PC government have promised funding for 65 more police jobs in Edmonton. Let's hope some of those jobs will be allocated for complaint line operators. With the new legislation, we actually do need more people who can take the complaint information.

Calgary Police have a reporting page accessible over the internet. This is the link. However a distracted driving complaint cannot be registered using it, so a call must still be placed. Perhaps enforcement agencies like Edmonton Police and Calgary Police could develop a web page for distracted driving complaints.

No one I've talked with likes drivers who flaunt this particular piece of legislation. The offending drivers may believe they are "important people". More important than you and I it would seem.
I hope you are not one of them.

Please, just keep you eyes and mind on the road. There are enough distractions out there already, without adding more.

Safe driving...Stay alert...

Cheers - Mike

I post it here because I believe you will find it an interesting read.

Safe driving...

Cheers - Mike

From the CBC there is this story in Edmonton, Edmonton police turn up the heat on distracted drivers

From the Edmonton Journal this story in Calgary, 1,456 distracted driving tickets issued in Calgary over 4 months

Why is the heat being turned up?

Read this story for a reason: Texting teen driver strikes man in crosswalk

Good driving...No distractions...

Cheers - Mike

It's up to you, after all...

Dear Mom and Dad -- Distracted Driving Video

Stay safe...

Cheers - Mike

PS: Here is: the Last Word

This advertisement has won 8 awards in Cannes

Good driving...Good learning...

Cheers - Mike